Algemene gebedsdag bij de aanvang van de onderhandelingen te 's-Gravenhage 1608

Curator: This engraving, dating from 1608, commemorates a “General Day of Prayer at the Start of Negotiations in The Hague.” Note its creation coincided with truce talks during the Eighty Years' War. What strikes you first about this work? Editor: There's an odd formality, a solemnity in the crisp lines despite its modest scale. It’s very controlled. This commemorates the start of the twelve year truce with the Habsburgs. Curator: Indeed, we can examine how it is carefully constructed. The engraving presents two faces. One side presents a figure with praying hands, between the gifts of peace in one hand and war in the other. The phrase, ‘fiat voluntas tua’ or ‘Thy will be done.’ Editor: It's interesting how the prayer coexists with symbols of both peace and war. You can view this moment through the social impact on civilian populations subjected to military battles on their lands: to have the potential resolution delivered into a god. Curator: That's an important viewpoint. Then turn your eye to the other side of the engraving. Seven arrows bound together sit squarely in the center. Inscriptions ring the artwork’s border, the words ‘belgica fortitudo.’ Editor: It’s clear from its deliberate use of symbolic language, referencing Dutch strength and unity. Given how conflict exacerbates division within populations and amongst allied groups, unity was key, a value represented with bundles of arrows bound for strength. The engraving served as propaganda, reminding those who owned it to adhere to the terms set in order. Curator: This piece’s symbolic language encourages us to consider these concepts together: the balance of power, themes of peace and conflict. Each is expressed through compositional devices. Editor: I think it speaks to the universal complexities inherent to treaty negotiations, even today. The symbolic, ritualistic aspects that weave the practical into the theatrical. Curator: Certainly the weight of this work exceeds its physical dimensions. Editor: Exactly. This single artifact holds space for diverse histories: that of conflict and compromise and the very concept of the power of unified identity.